Nighttime Boldness
by Blousey
Summary: Lucy/Mina. One-shot. Teenage-aged (ish) Lucy/Mina fic in which they break into a classroom at night to turn in assignment but seem to find themselves discovering something else entirely.


"Lucy, we're not allowed to be in here."

Lucy sighed from somewhere in front of Mina. "Didn't we talk about this?"

"Yes," she muttered.

"And what did I tell you?"

"That I need to relax."

"Precisely." Mina opened her mouth to warn Lucy against rummaging through the contents of the room but was cut off by Lucy speaking. "Really, I'm just looking out for you."

"Yes, breaking into the science room past curfew is exactly what I'd call looking out for me." The bite in her tone was more than evident.

The noises ceased and Mina saw Lucy pop out from around the corner. "Would you rather we leave then?"

"No, I—"

"Forget it." Lucy waved a dismissive hand before disappearing from sight again.

Mina tried to track Lucy by listening for more noisy clangs as she disrupted the items along the many shelves, but she couldn't seem to pick up any noise whatsoever, not even the sound of Lucy's shoes on the tiles. Her pulse began to quicken. "L-Lucy?"

No response. Mina began fiddling with the fabric of her dress as she fretted. It was dark and she was breaking the rules by being here and now she was all alone. She could feel the panic bubbling up from within her. "_Lucy_," she hissed. "This isn't funny."

Just then, Lucy stepped out from behind a row of shelves with one hand on her hip and annoyance in her gaze. "What do you want?"

Mina dropped her eyes but exhaled, relieved to know that Lucy hadn't left her. "Nothing," she answered, scurrying forward and absently searching for Lucy's hand as the girl walked forward. It was as much of an apology as she could manage for being so ungrateful. Lucy was really being quite sweet by bringing her here. After all, Mina was the one who forgot to turn in her lab write-up.

Lucy's fingers drummed against the back of Mina's hand as she scoured the room for where the stack of assignments might be. Mina should have been helping her but she couldn't help but trail behind a bit and watch Lucy. The way she hummed under her breath and let her free hand graze the various objects that littered the shelves was utterly endearing. Mina almost felt compelled to take Lucy's face in her hands and-

"_Mina_." Mina jumped at hearing her name called and hoped her face didn't look as flushed as it felt as she turned to face the other girl. "Is this the right pile?" Lucy repeated.

Mina, trying to act like she was actually paying attention, glanced at the stack of papers Lucy was referring to and nodded once. "Yes. Looks about right." Mina hurriedly stuffed her paper in the middle to make it seem as if it had been turned in on time, though she wasn't entirely sure she even had put it with the correct papers. If she was being honest with herself, part of her was still fixated on the idea of kissing Lucy. In her defense, Lucy was being awfully chivalrous and any reasonable person would want to give their thanks for such behavior...right?

Mina shook her head and squeezed Lucy's hand, having briefly remembered she had been holding it in the first place. "Lucy, I..."

"Yes?" Lucy looked down at Mina, and Mina swore she saw something akin to hope dancing in Lucy's eyes.

Mina stuttered but achieved no real words, instead pressing forward in an effort to convey what she was feeling. Backing up to keep some space between the two of them, Lucy stilled when she felt her back connect firmly with a metal shelf. Her hand flew up to steady herself but she had forgotten that she was still clutching Mina's hand, thus pulling Mina toward Lucy's body until any attempts to keep themselves apart were ultimately useless.

"Hi," Lucy whispered, a strained laugh falling from her mouth. She was trying very hard to ignore the dryness in her throat and the loud thumping of her heart in the quiet night.

"Hi," Mina choked out as she steadied her feet. She reluctantly let go of Lucy's hand when she realized it was simply causing more balance problems for the both of them and decided to settle for placing her hands on Lucy's hips. She could see the way Lucy's eyes kept darting around the room, not to mention the slight trembling that Mina could feel under her fingertips, and something about those unusually shy actions piqued her curiosity. "Lucy," she murmured, "are you alright?"

Lucy watched Mina intently as the girl spoke, silently cursing herself for letting her eyes linger on Mina's lips. Lucy nodded and was pushing off from the shelf when her hips were met with resistance. She was pinned. Lucy furrowed her brow at Mina. What was she doing?

"Right," Lucy said. "Now that we have turned in your paper in the middle of the night because you apparently can't keep your wits about you long enough to do properly in school, shall we get going?"

Removing her hands from Lucy's hips in an exaggerated fashion, Mina scoffed. "Can't keep my wits about me," she laughed. "I'm not the one who looked like she was about to faint mere seconds ago."

Lucy huffed indignantly as she flicked a strand of hair out of her eyes and cocked her hip in protest. "I was not about to _faint_."

"Of course not," Mina conceded. She made a move for the door but at the last second spun on her heel, hands finding Lucy's shoulders and pressing her against a solid wall. Mina could feel Lucy's shuddery breath on her lips. Only slightly annoyed that she had to rise onto her tiptoes to do so, Mina spoke in Lucy's ear with a playful lilt to her voice. "Pardon me, but _who_ can't keep her wits about her?"

When Mina pulled back to raise an eyebrow, Lucy quickly closed the gap, pressing her lips hungrily against Mina's. Lucy could feel Mina grinning right before she retreated to bury her face in the crook of Lucy's neck.

Suddenly Lucy was worried she had acted in haste. What if Mina had just been toying with her and Lucy had fallen right into her trap? Lucy wondered how soon Jonathan would find out and how long it would take before everyone in school was calling her the same vile names that she already called herself. She didn't notice that she was short of breath until Mina, panicked, drew back.

"Lucy?"

"I'm fine," Lucy assured her, though her voice was clearly shaky. She leaned back against the wall for support but ended up on the floor anyway. A hand that was not Lucy's own began wiping at her cheeks. When did she start crying? "Mina, I am so sorry. Please... Please don't tell anyone. I'll-I'll stop being your friend, if that's what you want. I know I'm revolting, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

Mina's hands were moving helplessly while Lucy spoke, never quite figuring out where to place themselves. She felt a twinge of sadness pierce her heart to hear Lucy talk so disrespectfully about herself. "No," Mina snapped. Finally knowing what to do with her hands, Mina took Lucy's face in her hands and crashed her lips against the other girl's, refusing to let go of Lucy even when their mouths had parted. "Never, _ever_, talk about my best friend that way. Never."

Lucy's eyes, glistening with tears, met Mina's in a mixture of confusion, hope, and adoration. "You mean to tell me this wasn't some cruel game..?"

Frowning, Mina shook her head and caressed Lucy's cheeks with her thumbs. "Absolutely not. I could never forgive anyone if they were to play with your heart like that, myself included."

Lucy laughed softly as a smile spread across her face. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

"No one needs to know about any of this, Lucy. I won't tell a soul, and that's a Mina Murray Promise." Relieved beyond belief, Lucy sprang forward to hug Mina tightly, and their muffled giggles filled the empty room.

"Oh, and Lucy," Mina started. Lucy sat back on her heels, head titled in question. "Thank you for tonight. You're truly too good to me."


End file.
